Mother Nature is Having a Good Laugh!

With the record snowfalls and the worst avalanche danger in 26 years, Mother Nature is having a good, sinister, chuckle this year.

Snoqualmie Pass (30 minutes from here) remains closed. The pass, which had reopened late Wednesday morning after a 28-hour closure due to heavy snowfall and earlier avalanches, was closed in both directions after the Wednesday afternoon slide, which was the worst avalanche the DOT has ever faced. The avalanche danger is listed as "Extreme"- the highest danger possible.

There are semitrucks parked on the sides of the freeway all the way down the pass to North Bend-including the on and off ramps. The businesses in North Bend are, I'm sure, counting their dollars. They say that every hour the pass is closed, results in an economic loss of $700,000! Crazy.

It's still snowing at our house and has been for about 5 days. We have a bit of a bobsled run getting out of the driveway with snow on both sides (Vil plowed it with the excavator). He also plowed our neighbors driveway, so that she could get out of her house. The mailboxes were covered with snow, they were plowed out yesterday too. As the song goes "it doesn't show signs of stopping"... so we'll enjoy the epic winter and have memories of this long into the spring thaw.

I snapped these last night after coming home from work. Sorry so dark.. but it gives you an idea anyway...

The Road Less Taken....

Lets Go Shoot The Hill....

They say a good character builder is to do at least one thing a day that scares you. What is that thing for you? If someone gave you the chance to do it, right now…would you? Would it help if someone encouraged you?

Last night Vil picked me up from work and we drove home on very snowy roads. It had been snowing nearly all day and we had accumulated over a foot of snow at the house. It’s beginning to look like a true mountain pass up in our neighborhood with snow banks pushed up against the sides of the roads from the plows. Funny how just a few hundred feet can make a big difference to what our North Bend “valley” neighbors see.

We came around the corner, past the small creek bridge and started up “the big hill”. That hill is the reason I look forward to spring- it can be a snowy mess, scary going down and sometimes slick coming up. “Hey”, says Vil “This snow looks pretty deep up here”… “let’s shoot the hill tonight”. I felt my knees quiver and gave a small sigh. Whenever it snows, we try to get out the cross country skis and head out for a little exercise around the neighborhood. Every time we’ve gone, we’ve stopped just short of the snowy big hill and turned back. Tonight… Vil decided we should “shoot the hill”.

At 7:30pm we headed out into the darkness. The snow was coming down nicely, giving us a nice fresh coat on the roads. We set out kicking and gliding as usual, past the mailboxes, past the other houses, past the new construction and on to the small bridge before the hill. “This snow seems pretty fast tonight, would you agree?” I mumbled under the sounds of the clank of poles hitting the road. Vil couldn’t hear me- between noise of the skis and poles and the fact that he was already quite far in front of me, it was pointless.

We got to the top of the hill and stopped. “Ready?”, Vil said casually, as if we were getting ready to jump in the car or head to a checkout line. “I just need a minute”, I said trying to be as brave as possible. Next thing I know, he’s going- full speed ahead… snow flying as he went.. a seemingly uneventful voyage to the bottom of the hill. When he finally slowed down he yelled up “It’s not too bad”. The “too” in that sentence was the word I disliked. “I’ll be here all night if I don’t go” I thought to myself. So… in a flash.. off I went… whistling completely out of control until I managed to find my long-lost snowplow and slow myself to a manageable pace.

At the bridge at the bottom, I felt really happy. I’d done it.. heck.. WE’D done it! We became the first people in the neighborhood to “Shoot the Hill”. I decided it was my gold star for the day. My “character builder” of overcoming fear. Sometimes, when we are scared.. we just need that little push to get to the place of joy.

What do you fear? The gold star awaits you, and the character is on the other side. Slow down, take a deep break and do it. Or… have someone encourage you to “shoot the hill”.

A really fun day of Snowshoeing!

The Song.. of Summit

This is by request for those of you who have heard him do this over the phone... but never seen it in person. He's quite the alto and can sing along to many songs... including "The Last of the Pawhecans"... In this clip he's talking to Vil, who Summit sings to in an effort to bring him home.

Summit LOVES the snow...

There is a growing patch of snow on our deck that keeps falling from the roof during the day. Tonight when I went out to snap some pictures of Mt. Si, he was having fun digging. Here's some pictures of 'our boy' doing what he does best in the snow...

Kick, Glide, Kick, Glide....

A lazy Sunday it was not. The sun came out and we got inspired to enjoy the afternoon up at the pass again with a little cross-country skiing. Seems everyone else had the same idea- the place was a zoo! I was planning on posting pictures, but on the way up there discovered my camera was safely tucked in a drawer at home. So... no pictures.. but I'll paint one for you.


The sun was shining and the clouds that lingered only passed over it a few times. We headed out on the road to get a good rythmn then headed into the woods on the 'Berg Trail'. The Berg Trail is considered intermediate, but with kids, old folks and everyone's cousin's uncle on it.. we decided to give it a go. We'd done it before unscathed, so why not? Mostly it was serene, accept for the time unedu-ma-cated folks stood in the tracks as you were cooking down a hill, or when the folks in front of you were going super slow and passing them involved scooting around them on the skate track. A tiny bit of aggrevation, but overall... people were kind and friendly and they seemed to be having fun as they tried to work their way around the 7km loop.

One of the hills, I call it "The Hill of Doom"....had issues with the track at the bottom- so it was kind of sketchy. I watched Vil almost bite it... poles flailing at his sides, bending at the waist in a desperate attempt to control his skinny sticks with the weight of his body,balancing precariously on the runaway skis and a stellar recovery which would have made a great video (rats). Then it was my turn. I was envisioning the same fate- only worse. It's one of the biggest hills on the Berg Loop and certainly is the reason the trail is intermediate. I took a deep breath, gained my composure... did a quick look around to see who might witness my antics and with a "just go for it" playing in my head... I hit the skids. I gave Vil a run for his money with my performance, and some how managed to stay on my skis. It was a sight for sure.

After that, it was one more fun trail.. then back to the car.. the crunchy snow making noise all the way... and the rythmn in my head... "kick, glide, kick, glide".

A great day and fun way to enjoy this snowy winter!

SNOW, SNOW, SNOW! (and more snow)...

Here we are again with another snowy day! Vil and I were commenting how much snow we've had at our new house this year. More days with snow on the ground this winter- than without. With snow still in the yard and on the trees, Mother Nature decided it was time to snow again! So today, what started as mixed snow and rain.. has turned into all flakes. Hopefully, we can get creative with our snowmen if this continues! Oh to be this good....




And last, but not least.. one of my favorite Shel Silverstein poems (for those of you with kids... you owe it to yourself to pick up at least one of his books...heck those of you without kids too)....

'Snowball'

I made myself a snowball As perfect as could be.


I thought I'd keep it as a pet And let it sleep with me.


I made it some pajamas And a pillow for its head.


Then last night it ran away, But first it wet the bed.

-- Shel Silverstein

More Snowmobiling Fun!

Vil and I went out for the day this weekend. Again, it was a bluebird day with a gorgeous fresh layer of snow and picture perfect views. These amazing views are the reasons I love being out there so much. It's a cold winter world up there- check out Mt. Rainier sticking out above the fog. So beautiful!

Grizzly Bear Outreach Project

One of my favorite things about my job is working with non-profits that are making a difference for people and animals. One of my favorite organizations is GBOP, or Grizzly Bear Outreach Project. http://www.bearinfo.org/ . The picture above is of Conservationist Chris Morgan and 10 month old sun bear 'Chera'- who is being prepared for life in the wild.

The mission of GBOP is 'promoting an accurate understanding of grizzly bears and their recovery in the North Cascades Ecosystem through community education and involvement.'

Since I've always loved bears, this organization is of particular interest to me and their mission is fascinating. Chris Morgan, GBOP Co-director is one of the most interesting presenters I have heard. He's in the process of raising funds to complete his feature lenght film "BEARTREK" which chronicles a journey of discovery by motorcycle to some of the wildest corners of our planet.http://www.beartrek.org/intro.htm . The info on the film says "A quest to learn about some of the eight remaining bear species, the biologists who study them, and the people who live with them. An emotional personal voyage to revisit the bears and people that Chris Morgan has worked among during his career as a bear researcher and conservationist, and an opportunity to make new friends in unfamiliar land. This exploration of bears, culture, and human nature reveals a message of hope that provides an optimistic glimpse of the future for our wild places and animals."

It's a really going to be a great film. I enjoyed watching the 6 minute stream of the video so far.. here's the link http://homepage.mac.com/pontecorvo1/iMovieTheater62.html

Enjoy!

Cross Country Skiing!

Can you tell we've been deprived of activites for nearly 2 years? "Living" has a new meaning. We had a GREAT day out at Cabin Creek. For those of you who live near here and haven't been- we give it two thumbs up. There are nearly 10 miles of groomed cross country trails- all with varying degrees of difficulty... and very close to the top of the pass. Those not close... be forewarned that a visit to our place in winter might result in a trip up there. It's our new x-country stomping grounds. Here are a couple pictures.

Snowmobiling!

It was a gorgeous, bluebird day for snowmobiling. You don't get too many of those in winter around here, so we took advantage of it! Here's a picture of the trail with the trees in their coats. Check out how deep this snow is. I got off the sled to take a picture and crawled back to my snowmobile. It had been snowing over 18 straight days... then this beautiful day came about.
What's more stuck? Vil or his sled?
Vil's really good on his sled... when you get it up on one ski like this the term is "boondocking"- sounds like it came from down south, huh?
Boondocking again in the powder. It was really easy to get stuck!

A picture of the two of us out enjoying the day. Look how perfect the sky is- not a cloud in sight.

We had fun recently with the sleds in the powder! Enjoy the goofy short videos!

Enjoy!